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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bore — to tire
  6. clip — a video
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — for paper
  9. prune — to trim
  10. row — a line
  11. clip — to cut
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. degree — from a university
  14. prune — to trim
  15. court — for sport
  16. bore — to drill
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. court — of law
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ground — the earth
  21. degree — temperature
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. ground — a position

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com